Man Spends 567 Days Hitchhiking and Storytelling

I’m Armenian, so I’m biased, but our hospitality is legendary. I was delighted to see that Reddit user yesmonassa (Allan Dransfield) had an experience hitchhiking around Armenia (as well as most of Europe and Asia!) that lived up to the hype.

He thought he was just getting a ride from the capital of Yerevan to Vanadzor, but that turned into an full day of drinking, food, a hot shower, and a night in his new friend’s family home. The Armenian samaritan’s name was Maise, and he took this redditor in as though he were kin. It was an extended family affair, as the entire family was invited to meet this curious traveler with the marvelous mustache.

After sobering up, getting a fully belly, and clean (apparently yesmonassa smelled pretty bad at this point in his journey), he learned that Maise had never actually been going to Vanadzor, but just wanted to help this vagabond get to his destination. He sent yesmonassa off with his daughter and her friends to the bus station, where they even made sure he got on the right one.

“These kind of moments, when your life unexpectedly becomes intertwined with the lives of others, when an adventure is born out of nothing, is what defines travel to me… and is helping me bit by bit understand LIFE, no less.
It’s everyday people who me give me faith about the future, and not only faith but excitement about how much there is still to discover and how many friends I have out there that I haven’t even met yet—and as long as we all keep on keepin’ on—will eventually cross!”

But remember, this was just the end of his 567 day journey! Read about all of his travels on yesmonassa.com (he’s made his rounds on the internet before with his Jumping Project) and follow him on Reddit at user yesmonassa.

I’ll leave you with this, one of his fond memories from the trip—a Nepali driver who raced him to the airport so he wouldn’t miss his flight, for free:

“It took 20 minutes to get to Tribhuvan International airport. I rummaged around in my bag wondering what I could give the driver as a thanks for his typical Nepali kindness.

We pulled in and I [leaned] over to shake the driver’s hand. ‘Thanks for getting me to the airport Prem, you saved the day! I found these, its a pack of Indian postage stamps that I never used—they’re worth about 300 Nepali rupees.’

I grabbed my bag and got out of the taxi but Prem leaned out and shoved 100 rupees into my hand—you’ll need some money for water—it’s hot outside. I noticed afterwards when looking at the picture Mother Teresa looking up at him as he held the stamps and I smiled: It sums up my whole Nepal experience.”

As much as I want to believe in Armenian exceptionalism, kindness is indeed international and traveling with an open mind and welcoming spirit is one of the best ways to experience it.